Town Rivalries
by Bentleys and Bookshops
Summary: Reverse Falls Fanfiction. Pacifica and Gideon meet the Pines, and make two very powerful enemies. A few details in this story are based off the Carla v.s. Stan head canons on the Tumblr of a 'Firecracker'. Just felt the need to credit them! This is possibly one of a series of Reverse Falls stories from me.
1. Chapter 1

The Shack was in full swing, and hordes of customers bustled around the stuffy gift shop. Robbie was getting people through the check-out line as fast as he could, and Pacifica sat beside him, looking concernedly up at the frazzled teen.

"You sure you don't want any help, Robbie?" He smiled at her, still ringing up merchandise.

"I'm sure, Paz! Thanks for asking, though!" She put down her Teen Tattler magazine and began helping him, anyway. There was a knock on the front door of the house, and her Grauntie Carla's voice came from the other side of the shop.

"PACIFICA! COULD YOU SEE WHO THAT IS, SWEETIE?" Pacifica sighed, then took a deep breath.

"GIDEON! SEE WHO THAT IS!" Her cousin looked up from his journal, silver-blond hair hanging in front of his suddenly wide eyes, and hopped to his feet, hurrying to the door. There was a brief exchange between Gideon and the person at the door, and then Gideon came back into the shop holding a bouquet of pink roses. His face was a mixture of happiness and confusion.

"Hey, Grauntie Carla, these are for you!" Carla could be heard asking the customers on tour to please wait just a moment, and then she walked into the room, looking much more confused than happy.

"Flowers? What the…?"

"There's a note attached to the vase, I think." Her nephew pointed out. Carla picked up the note and held it closer to her face, squinting at it. Suddenly, her eyes went as wide as saucers, and she ran over to the counter, yanking a megaphone out from behind it.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE SHOP! GO! NOW! SAVE YOURSELVES!" The customers instantly panicked, flooding out of the door. Robbie dropped his handful of change and ducked behind the counter for cover, dragged Pacifica down with him. Gideon was screaming and halfway up the stairs by the time someone thought to ask the megaphone-wielding woman what her motives were.

"GRAUNTIE CARLA, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Pacifica yelled from behind the counter. Her aunt had already placed the flowers in the center of the room and was spraying the offending bouquet with a fire extinguisher. There was unspeakable rage on her face, the kind that her niece and nephew had never seen. She finished off her attack on the flora by giving it a satisfying "whack" with the butt of the extinguisher, then dropping it on the flowers. Gideon had crept back downstairs, and picked the fallen note off the floor.

"To my dearest Miss McCorkle: May your business and family flourish and prosper. Love, S.P." Gideon looked up at his breathless aunt. "I don't get it. Why did you freak out?" Carla glowered at the note in Gideon's hand.

"Stan Pines." The words dripped with venom, and she spat the name out as if it had left a sour taste in her mouth. Pacifica and Robbie had both come out from behind the counter, Pacifica looking completely lost and Robbie looking worried.

"Oh, no…is Mr. Pines messing with you again?" Pacifica raised an eyebrow at Robbie.

"Mr. Pines? Again? Can someone fill me in, here?" Robbie sighed and tucked a lock of neatly combed black hair behind his ear.

"Stan Pines is your aunt's arch rival. He's the owner of The Tent of Telepathy on the other side of town. They're…pretty competitive with each other."

"He named their gift shop The Mystery Museum JUST to tick me off." Carla growled. "The man is a menace." Pacifica pulled on her aunt's sleeve to get her attention, and possibly calm her down.

"Why'd you freak out about the flowers, though? I mean, the card seemed pretty nice." Carla scoffed.

"Yeah, I thought so too….the first time. Then I found out it was scattered with poison ivy leaves. Didn't stop itching for over a week." Pacifica winced in sympathy.

"Oh, that's—"

"Not finished. Then there was the second time, where I threw the thing away ten minutes before it EXPLODED."

"Exploded?!"

"Or the third time, where there was a tiny wasp nest in the gosh darn thing! So forgive me for not trusting this particular bouquet!" She huffed, and a dark curl fell out from under her hat and onto her cheek.

"Sorry, Grauntie Carla." Gideon and Pacifica said in unison. Their aunt sniffed.

"Oh, you didn't know." She glared at the remains of the gift on the floor, and balled her fists. "Sending me a 'gift' while I have children in the house…the inconsiderate _scum_!" Robbie looked even more worried.

"Ms. McCorkle, this doesn't mean—"

"I think I'll pay dear old Mr. Pines a visit. It's been a while since we were last acquainted, so this is probably overdue. " Robbie buried his face in his hands.

"Can I at least get the rest of the day off?"

"Sure, Robbie."

"With pay?"

"Don't push it, Robbie."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Carla was already pulling her riding jacket on. "Kids? You want to come with me?" Gideon and Pacifica exchanged a worried look.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Gideon asked. Carla smirked.

"Honey, you don't have any reason to be afraid of the Pines. They should be afraid of you, considering who your Grauntie is." She gave him a wink and threw him his helmet from its peg on the wall. Pacifica grabbed her bedazzled turquoise helmet and put it on.

"Let's do this, then!"

Riding in the sidecar of Grauntie Carla's motorbike was usually a pretty stress-free experience, but then again she usually wasn't going off on a rage-fueled tangent while driving.

"The NERVE of him! Sending me crap like this while I have KIDS in the house! I mean, geez Louise!" Pacifica and Gideon were both gripping the sides of the side car hard enough to make their knuckles white.

"Grauntie Carla, shouldn't you be paying more attention to the road?" Pacifica managed to shout above the noise of honking cars and air rushing past. Her aunt rolled her eyes.

"Pacifica, I think I know what I'm doing. I've been driving for—" She was cut off as she drove too close by a street sign, and one of the motor car's mirrors flew off. "On second thought, you're probably right."

They pulled up outside The Tent of Telepathy a few minutes later, and Carla quickly dismounted from the bike. "Okay, kiddos, let's do this."

When they walked into the tent, they found it packed. The lights were beginning to dim, and Carla groaned under her breath. "They're about to start a show…" Gideon and Pacifica exchanged excited looks. Both kids were interested in what a show anywhere in a place with the word "telepathy" in the name looked like, though neither would admit that to their aunt. Looking around, they couldn't help but stand in awe of the whole place. It was much fancier than the shack; dark blue silk draped the walls, and there was an actual chandelier hanging in the center. The crystals on the chandelier reflected the light from the candles that lit the room, so small diamonds of reflected light danced around the room. As the cousins looked at the thick black drapes at the front, they began to be pulled away from each other to reveal the stage. The audience clapped and let out little "ooh"s and "ah"s at nothing in particular, but Carla remained silent. She gave her niece and nephew a look that indicated they should remain so, too.

On the stage, two figures stood cloaked in shadow. Slowly, they walked into the candlelight at the edge of the stage, and raised their pale faces to look at the crowd. The light revealed them to be a young boy and girl, both with wavy, chestnut brown hair and piercing blue eyes. The boy's bangs were combed to the side, revealing an oddly-shaped birthmark on his forehead. The girl's hair nearly reached her waist, and was kept from her face by a decorative headband. They were wearing outfits of blue and black, both with long, sweeping capes. The boy smiled warmly at the audience.

"Welcome, one and all, to The Tent of Telepathy!" His voice was young and cheerful, filling the room and making the audience smile with him. His female counterpart smiled and linked arms with him.

"This dashing young man is my brother, Dipper Pines…" Dipper gestured widely with his arm towards his sister.

"And this lovely young lady is my sister, Mabel Pines. Together, we are the Pines twins, and we are here to amaze and astound you, the wonderful people of Gravity Falls." This earned an "awww" from the crowd. Carla scoffed and leaned down to Pacifica and Gideon.

"Blatant flattery." She whispered to the two. "Luckily for them, the people of this town eat that up." The kids ignored her, mesmerized by the twins onstage. Dipper had crossed the stage to a piano they had set up, and was pulling his cape to the side gracefully in order to sit down. He took a seat and nodded at his sister, who nodded back at him before turning back to the audience.

"Now, I will be performing a song for you all, with my brother accompanying me on piano. Would you all like that?" The audience all nodded enthusiastically; even Carla, who looked very startled to be doing so. Mabel smiled and opened her mouth to sing, the first notes of the song emitting from the piano, and the room instantly seemed hazy. Her soft, light voice seeped into every listener's mind like a fog, filling them all with a drugged sort of calmness, the kind that comes right before sleep. If you had asked anyone leaving the tent what the song had been about, you wouldn't have gotten much in terms of a coherent answer. It was a song about love and deception, nighttime and loneliness, magic and ugly truths, a song about everything at once and nothing at all. No one was quite sure when the song was finished, but their minds cleared around the time they were sitting back down after the standing ovation. Mabel was smiling and curtsying, and Dipper was rising from the piano bench to rejoin her side.

"Now, who would like to see some _real_ magic?"

As the astounded audience filed out after the show finished, the three visitors from The Mystery Shack stayed.

"Grauntie Carla, how do you know he's even here?" Gideon voiced his concern; he wanted his aunt to be able to confront her rival, but he could be an impatient boy. And if he was being completely honest, his stomach was telling him it was ready for lunch.

"Oh, he's here, sweetie. Trust—" She was cut off by a gravelly voice suddenly filling the tent.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't dear Miss McCorkle! Finally come to see one of our shows, did you?" Carla scoffed and smiled spitefully.

"You would like that, wouldn't you, Stan?" A tall man sauntered out from behind the stage. He had very neatly combed silvery-gray hair, and was wearing a black suit with blue accents. He was also wearing a particularly wicked grin.

"Oh, no need to be so defensive, Carla! I won't judge you for your taste in entertainment. I will say, my niece and nephew are quite the showmen." Carla glared at him and began to dig around in her pockets.

"Pines, do you care to explain why THIS—" Here, she pulled out the note that he had attached to her bouquet of roses and thrust it in his face. "—was delivered to me this morning?" Stan smiled at her, attempting what was most likely meant to be an impression of an innocent man on trial.

"What, the roses? I see no problem sending a gift to a long-time friend out of the goodness of my heart!" Carla rolled her eyes.

"Please. We are not _friends_. Anyone who has lived in this town over a day knows we are not _friends_. And anyone with any common sense would know that you don't have a heart, let alone goodness in it." She smiled smugly at him, not trying to hide the fact that she was proud of that one. He smiled back at her.

"Well, I suppose it's lucky for me that no one in this town has any common sense, then." He looked down at Pacifica and Gideon, seemingly noticing them for the first time. "What are those with you today?" Carla's cheeks darkened in indignation.

" _Those_ are my great niece and nephew, Pacifica and Gideon. They're staying with me over the summer." Gideon gave a little wave.

"Hello…"

"Don't wave at the jerkface, Gideon."

"Yes, Grauntie Carla." Stan snickered a little at the nickname. Carla shot him another venomous look. Without looking away, she addressed her niece and nephew.

"Hey, kids, why don't you go hang out with the Pines twins? They seem nice, don't they?" Pacifica and Gideon exchanged a look. 'Nice' was a word that could be used, they supposed. There weren't many words that came to mind when describing the Pines twins, from what they had seen; nothing that did them justice, anyway. They shrugged at their aunt.

"I guess, yeah. I mean—"

"Great! You go play with them while I have a polite and civil and in no way violent conversation with their uncle."

The fair-haired cousins decided that it would probably be best to go before things inevitably got ugly, so they nodded quickly and hurried backstage, where they could only assume the twins were. Almost instantly, their assumptions were confirmed. Dipper was leaning against a nearby wall, writing something down on a piece of paper. Pacifica shyly approached him, with Gideon close behind her.

"H-Hi! I'm Pacifica Northwest! I know who you are, of course, since I watched the show." She was smiling as cheerily as she could, and had a hand extended to him. He raised his eyebrow at it.

"I wasn't aware I was open to the public right now." His voice sounded utterly uninterested; still young and captivating, but no longer cheerful. Pacifica's smile faltered.

"Oh, ha. No, I'm not the public, I'm just, uh…" She suddenly found it very difficult to explain herself. Gideon spoke up.

"Our aunt sent us back here while she talks to your uncle." His voiced squeaked a little, and Pacifica felt immense pity for him; obviously, he was intimidated to death by Dipper.

"Oh, I see. Hm…how about we go to the back room, then? My sister is there, I think. Follow me." He folded the piece of paper in his hand neatly and tucked it underneath his cape, seemingly into nothing. He began to walk farther into the darkness, and Pacifica and Gideon followed him nervously. They reached a door with a star symbol on it, and Dipper opened it quietly, striding in quickly enough to make his cape _swoosh_ behind him. There was a small table in the room, surrounded by a mess of other furniture, books, and papers. Gideon looked at the scattered papers with interest, while Pacifica looked at the door behind them; had it just closed on its own? Dipper spoke up.

"Have a seat." It wasn't a question. Pacifica started slightly; she could have sworn the table did not have four chairs just a second ago. She sat anyway, Gideon sliding into the seat next to her. Dipper set several mugs of steaming liquid on the table in front of them.

"Thanks! Uh…what is it?"

"Tea. Freshly brewed. Do drink up." Gideon began to drink, thinking how much he could use a tea cake with the drink right about then, and Pacifica took a tentative sip, thinking about how choppy Dipper's sentences were, and seriously, what twelve year old talked like that? It tasted very strong, and very herbal. Pacifica forced herself not to gag on it, not wanting to be rude. Dipper had taken a seat across from her, and was studying her with his intense blue eyes. On stage, his eyes had been enchanting, handsome, even. Up close, they were significantly creepier, wide and round, looking as if he had just realized every secret to the universe and his mind had just officially imploded. She would call them crazed-looking, but they were far too intelligent to be crazed. Besides, Dipper was too collected to be crazy, right? Out of nowhere, a soft but clear voice seeped from the shadows behind Gideon.

"Oh, he's all small and round like a pig!" Gideon spilled his drink on the table and let out a squeal, turning around quickly enough to give someone whiplash. Mabel was standing behind his chair, hands clasped together in front of her. "He even squeals like one! Isn't that quaint, brother dearest?" She was grinning at Gideon like a great white shark who had just spotted a particularly chubby seal. Gideon shivered with fear under her gaze. "I'm Mabel. But of course, you must know that if you were watching my show, which you were. I noticed you standing in the back." She was speaking sweetly, but there was something very off-putting about her eyes, which were just as wide and almost crazed-looking as her brother's. Gideon gulped and looked nervously at the table.

"Uh…s-sorry about your table, I didn't mean to—" Mabel gently put her finger in front of Gideon's mouth, shushing him.

"Don't worry about it. That was a cheap table, anyway." Pacifica raised an eyebrow at the sleek marble table. Cheap? Seriously? These kids obviously had a very high budget life-style.

"Oh, uh, th-thanks, I guess. Uh." He was too tongue-tied for more than that. Mabel pulled out the chair across from him and sat down, still smiling at him. She looked at the cousins.

"So, what are your names?" Pacifica lit up.

"I'm Pacifica Northwest!" She looked at Gideon, who looked too nervous to speak for himself. "…and this is my cousin, Gideon Gleeful." Mabel nodded half-heartedly at this new information.

"Dipper, darling brother, could you be so kind as to get me a cup of tea?" Dipper had his piece of paper out again and was writing on it. He looked up from the paper to give her an irritated look, which she reciprocated. Folding her arms in front of her, she set her jaw and glared at her brother until he sighed and got up, off to get a cup for her. Pacifica and Gideon couldn't have been any more uncomfortable at this wordless exchange. Dipper passive-aggressively set a mug of tea in front of his sister and sat back down. Mabel nodded thankfully at him and took a sip without taking her eyes off the visitors.

"So…you're from The Mystery Shack." She said calmly, stating the fact rather than asking. Pacifica nodded.

"Yeah, our aunt owns it. We're working there this summer." Mabel smiled in a very non-genuine way.

"Well, I'm sure that's nice for you." Gideon was trying his best to look anywhere but at the twins, occupying himself with drinking his tea. Pacifica, however, picked up on the condescending tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mabel furrowed her brow and gave her the sort of look that a kindergarten teacher would be accustomed to give.

"Oh, you just seem like the type to enjoy that sort of thing." Pacifica honestly couldn't tell just how offended she should be.

"How so…?" She didn't want to start anything unnecessary, so she treaded as carefully as possible. Dipper chuckled; it was the first time he'd laughed in their presence.

"Well, The Mystery Shack is such a child-like attraction, and the first thing we noticed about you was the amount of silly bands on your arms." Mabel laughed along with him

"Don't forget the scrunchies in her hair!"

"Or the stickers on her face!" Both twins were laughing softly, as if at an inside joke. Mabel let out a sigh and wiped away an imaginary tear from laughter.

"And don't get us started on the woman who runs the shack..." Pacifica felt anger rise in her chest. Gideon kept glancing towards her, looking worried. Pacifica sat us as straightly as she could and puffed out her chest.

"That's my _aunt._ And I'll have you know that she's awesome." The twins stopped laughing and turned to her. Pacifica restrained herself from shrinking under their looks.

"Oh, I'm so sorry that you think so." Mabel cooed with mock sympathy. Pacifica set her jaw.

"At least she's nice to people! Unlike you two, who just have some creepy Shining twins thing going!" The room suddenly seemed to get more tense. Dipper and Mabel's faces darkened instantly, and Pacifica and Gideon suddenly felt far too unsafe for comfort.

"Are you thinking what I am, sister dear?"

"I usually am, brother." Neither were smiling. Gideon spoke up in defense of his cousin.

"H-Hey, I'm sure she didn't mean that. You're not creepy at all!" He tried his best to pretend he was most definitely not creeped out by them. Mabel smiled pityingly at the boy.

"Gideon, I like you so far. Don't get involved in this and chance my mind." Gideon's eyes widened.

"Uh, w-well, I just think—" He was cut off at the sound of something shattering in the main performance room. Not five seconds after that, Carla stormed into the room, hair a mess, face flushed with anger.

"Kids, we're leaving. _Now._ " Both Gideon and Pacifica jumped up from their chairs in relief and fled the room as quickly as possible. Carla nodded at the twins sitting at the table, straightened her hat, and exited behind her niece and nephew. The Pines twins remained in silence as they watched them go. Hurrying down the hall, Gideon looked in awe at Pacifica.  
"Paz, you were so brave!" Pacifica laughed humorlessly.

"Actually, that was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I'm surprised I didn't pee myself." Gideon chuckled in the hopes it would calm him down a little. It didn't; in fact, the laugh came out sounding a little more hysterical than he'd intended. Pacifica looked as concerned as Gideon felt.

"Gideon, I think…I think we just officially made enemies."

Once they were back on the motorbike, Carla sighed and looked apologetically at the kids.

"Sorry for cutting your little tea party short. You two want to go get something to eat?" Pacifica and Gideon exchanged a look, then nodded without really meaning it. Neither were really hungry anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Gideon knelt in front of his aunt's bookshelf, a frown on his face.

"Hey, Paz? Have you seen my journal? I could've sworn I put it down just a minute ago…"

Pacifica walked into the living room, a can of Pitt soda in her hand. She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips in concentration.

"Hmm…I think I saw it in our room this morning…"

Gideon shook his head, frustrated.

"No, I checked there already…" He sighed, kneeling down further to look under the bookshelf. "And I checked the kitchen, front porch, hallway, Grauntie Carla's room…" He flopped down onto the floor in defeat. "I just don't know where it could be!"

Pacifica's eyes wandered around the room, before she spotted a particular object on the couch. She looked at her cousin on the floor and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe it's on top of the couch about four feet from you." She crossed her arms in front of her and smirked at him.

Gideon turned his head to look at the journal resting on the couch without saying anything. For a few moments, silence filled the room, before he sighed and shook his head.

"Why am I like this?"

Pacifica laughed and sat down next to him, ruffling his hair.

"It's fine, that sorta thing happens to me all the time." Her laughter ebbed as she noticed a book far bigger than the others on the shelf in front of them. Curious, she pulled the book off the shelf and inspected the front. "Hey, Gideon, look at this!"

She turned the book to face him. It was pale blue and patterned with tiny drawings of daisies. It was simply labeled 'Memories'. It wasn't actually a book, per say; it was a very large three-ring binder. Gideon took the book from her, opened it, and grinned.

"Awww, look at this!"

Pacifica scooted closer to him, looking down at the picture he was pointing at. In the picture, three little girls stood on the beach with their arms linked. All three were wearing Easter egg yellow dresses, and all three looked as joyful as could be. The picture was faded, and obviously taken a long time ago, but both Pacifica and Gideon could vaguely recognize the little curly-haired girl in the middle, giving them a gap-toothed grin from across the years.

"Is that really…?"

They heard someone clear their throat behind them. Both kids whipped around to see their aunt standing there, looking amused.

"I see you found my old photo album." She chuckled, sitting down with them.  
"Man, I haven't looked through this thing in ages…"

Gideon held up the book and pointed to the beach picture.

"Is this middle girl you?" He asked, smiling. Carla looked at the picture fondly.

"Yep, that's me. That was taken in…wow, 1960. That means I'm six years old in that picture." She pointed to the girl who'd been standing on her right on that day in 1960, a tiny thing with hair as curly as Carla's had been. "Gideon, that's your grandma Crystal. She was three that year…" She then pointed to the third and final girl, who was the tallest of the three and wore very fashionable looking sunglasses and a sunhat. "And Pacifica, that's your grandma Camille, rocking her movie star look." She chuckled wistfully. "She was ten in this picture."

Pacifica stared at the picture with great interest. She had never met her grandma Camille, as Camille had passed away before she was born, so any time she was presented with a photo she hadn't seen, she made sure to pay attention. Carla was still staring at the old picture of her and her sisters, a look akin to sadness on her face.

"You know, Paz, I think you have her eyes." She gave her niece a warm smile and squeezed her hand. Pacifica smiled back at her, genuinely touched by the comment. Gideon looked at his aunt hopefully.

"Grauntie Carla, d'you think you could show us some more photos in here?"

Carla looked surprised but slightly flattered.

"Okay, I guess…I have no idea why you'd be interested in my boring life, but whatever." She took the book from him and began turning pages. Many of the photos early on took place on the beach; it seemed that their aunt had spent much of her youth playing in the sand or the water. Many of the pictures also included her sisters. There was a picture of her and her sisters on their bikes, a picture of them building sandcastles, a picture of them all dressed up in their mother's makeup and jewelry…the three had obviously been very close.

Pacifica and Gideon noticed something strange, however; there was one final picture with her family, one where a teenage Carla was posing with a slightly younger Crystal in a 50s style diner, and then they just…stopped. None of the pictures after that contained Carla's sisters, or her parents for that matter. Neither Pacifica nor Gideon made any comment on this, however, for fear there might be a painful story behind this change in photos. Carla cheerfully continued to flip through the pictures as if nothing was amiss, before coming across one that caused her to burst out laughing.

"Oh, gosh! Kids, this one was taken a week before my first arrest!"

Pacifica and Gideon started, neither sure if they had heard their aunt correctly. She was chuckling to herself. "Okay, let me explain. I rented a room from this guy who I thought seemed pretty trustworthy. Turns out he was wanted in three states, and the cops came busting in at about one o' clock a.m. looking for him! They went ahead and arrested me for good measure…good times. I mean, not really, but you know."

Gideon still sat motionless, shocked, but Pacifica nodded. She didn't know, though. Her aunt was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, continuing to flip through pictures. One picture caught Pacifica's eye, and she put her hand on her aunt's to stop her.

"Wait! Was that Dr. McGucket?" She pointed at a photo showing her aunt at about thirty years of age, her hair pinned back in a high ponytail, sporting a denim jacket and knee-length hot pink skirt. By her side stood a young man with tawny blond hair and small, round glasses perched on his nose. He was also wearing an olive green tweed jacket with the sleeves somehow rolled up to his elbows. They were standing in front of the Mystery Shack, each with one arm around the other. They looked worn out, but incredibly proud.

Carla smiled and nodded. "Yeah…this was taken the day I opened the shack. Fiddleford helped me out with that. Helped me set up shop, lent me a little cash; he even helped me run it for a little while! He's a good man, Fiddleford. And a good friend."

Pacifica and Gideon exchanged a look. They'd had no idea that their aunt and Dr. McGucket had been friends for so long. The kind, albeit rather eccentric man came around the shop practically every other day to check on the family and help out where he could. Though the children sometimes joked about there being something romantic between him and their aunt, they both knew only a strong friendship was there. Apparently this friendship had been around longer than they'd thought.

Suddenly, Carla let out a yawn, followed by a tired sigh.

"Okay, kids, I'm calling it a night. You should, too. I'm giving you ten minutes before I expect you to be upstairs." She handed Gideon the book, stood, stretched, and began to walk out of the room. Gideon flipped through the book a few pages backwards, and his eyes widened.

"Grauntie Carla, is this Mr. Pines in this picture?"

Carla turned around a little more quickly than could be considered casual, and eyed the book.

"Uh, nope. Must be someone else. Go to bed." And with that, she left.

Pacifica scooted closer to Gideon to look at the picture and raised an eyebrow. In the picture, their aunt, about forty years younger, was standing in a diner with a young man. She wore a sunset orange dress, and her hair was in ringlets. The man standing with her wore black pants and a white shirt with red suspenders. He had messy brown hair and a fair amount of stubble; he may have been much younger, but he was definitely Mr. Pines. The two were smiling sweetly at each other, which Pacifica and Gideon had never seen their aunt and her competitor do. They looked at each other with wide eyes, not saying anything.

There was evidently something their aunt wasn't telling them.


End file.
